Today, more than 30 million students struggle to read. By fourth grade, 65% of them are reading below proficiency. With early detection and proven accommodations, we can make strides in alleviating these detrimental consequences. Learning Ally is a leading nonprofit education solutions organization that transforms the lives of early and struggling learners through proven solutions from Pre-K through high school, to help students reach their potential.
Audiobooks are different from VOICEtext from Learning Ally:
VOICEtext syncs the audio of a human voice with the text and much more. One cannot access this tool through other services such as Audible, and we don't know of any other platform that offers this. We believe it is important for all students to become proficient readers and do not see this as a shortcut or "crutch." Think of it as a leveling of the playing field. It is simply another mode of delivery and means by which a person can learn.
Just because a student is a slow reader or has weak decoding skills, we know this has nothing to do with intelligence. Ideally, students who qualify for this accommodation would benefit from having access to this tool in the classroom during sustained silent reading. While this is not a common accommodation we have seen in local schools in New Orleans, we have seen it as a standard in schools in other parts of the country. Training a student to track the words on the screen takes a little time, and we like to make sure each student is set up appropriately to use VOICEtext.
There are multiple benefits to VOICEtext including improving reading fluency and comprehension. Please see the resourses below that explain more about this. We still belive reading text on the page is extremely important, although this offers a solution to an issue we know needs to be addressed. Students are missing content in school because they can't keep up with required reading. Learning Ally has a library of over 80,000 texts thanks to volunteer readers. From Harry Potter to text books, Learning Ally has so much to offer. It has been amazing to witness the feelings of relief so many of our students share when we introduce VOICEtext to them. If your child has been qualified, and you have not yet signed up, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions. This is very important for your child to have this to use daily, just to get in the habit of reading for pleasure.
An annual subscription averages out to $11.25 per month. Would you like to learn more? If so, please check out the resources below. Kate will qualify anyone of any age who would be interested in this service, and once you are qualified, you are for a lifetime. We should point out that NOLA Learning Support does not financially benefit from this service. If you would like a demonstration in person or via Zoom, or if you would simply like to learn more, please reach out to Kate.
Resources:
Here is a video that explains more about VOICEtext and how much it can help students: